Bureaucrats as politicians

A bureaucrat interacts with politicians every day and gets a first-hand view of the power they enjoy. So it should come as no surprise that he/she aspires to cross the thin line and wishes to be the master. There are seven prominent IAS, two IFS, 14 IPS, and two IRS retired officers in active politics and many will keep joining in the days to come. Politicians are very clever though as they seldom allow these bureaucrat-politicians entry into the party think-tank. The politicians use them as advisors, vision document writers, seminar organisers and propagators of the party’s ideology among the elite. There are exceptions like Yashwant Sinha, Ajit Jogi and Arvind Kejriwal. But note that all three are unorthodox and have their own agenda. Even Mani Shanker Aiyer has his own tantrums. Udit Raj (Ex-IRS), MP from North West Delhi, is also among the dissidents within the BJP as he was not made a minister. The 2019 elections will see many retired bureaucrats fighting the elections and aspiring to be a minister in the government. Civil servants forget one important dictum of politics that the field belongs to those who play on it all the time and not to old, fatigued players. Indeed, politicians understand human intricacies and society better than file pushers but exceptions are always there.

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